Pangea Powercords The real deal ?

[rollo]

 Made a real good improvement to an Oppo CDP. besting a cord [ no names costing over $350 ]. Has anyone tried the high current cords ? They appear to well engineered, shielded, good enough copper conductor and very reasonably priced.
   Shoot for $180 for two 9ga shielded cords with a 30 day MBG from Audio Advisor the nervosa is perking. If they sound good they will make a lot of sales. Bravo at least to the price until auditioned in my system. improved my Buddy's system and he was using a cord I made for him which is no slouch [ 9ga NASA spec, concentric wind silver plated copper with O'Heil IEC and industrial plug, ERS and braided shielding]   Again no slouch.


charles 

[richidoo]

http://www.pangeaaudio.com/

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PGAC9

[tmazz]

Sounds like another great bang for the buck product. I have also been very happy with power cord from Signal Cable. Their power cords run in the same price range and when I heard that they are used as the stock cord in the Velodyne $15K Signature 1812 Subwoofer I figured what the hell, and gave it a try.

I realize that some of the big buck power cords out there do some really nice things, but I can't help thinking, If I add a $2,000 power cord to a $2,000 amp would I be better off putting one of these Pangea or Signal Cable cords on a $4,000 amp. When tweeks and add-ons start costing the same or more than the equipment you are adding them to, it's time to think if it is worth doing. I am not by any means saying that it can't or should be better. A $50 - 100 outlay for a better sounding power cord is a no brainer.  But when you start talking about kilobuck investments you have to give some serious consideration to where else in the system you could invest that kind of money and where would you get the best payback.

[mdconnelly]

I saw those in the recent AA and was tempted for applications like my computer and TV.  I think one of my more recent epiphanies (see separate thread) is that there is no such thing as cheap giant killers.  But these seem like a great replacement for stock power cords on things that you might otherwise just use the stock PC.

[richidoo]

No more cheap no-name wires for me. You get what you pay for.

I felt a little let down to see Manley's products listed in Audio Advisor. At least it was full price. Maybe they will get some action. I like to read Audio Advisor, but it has a cheap midfi feel to it, like Crutchfield. But now Crutchfield has PSAudio, Thiel, MartinLogan, etc... The world is shrinking, lines are blurred, I'm so confused.

[tmazz]

I also was shocked to see formerly dealer exclusive high end products being offered in on-line catalogs. But the unfortunate reality of it is that that this is a matter of survival for these companies. the whole business model of the small high service high end audio boutique is hanging by a thread. As the cost of equipment has spiraled, so has the cost of putting demo models on the showroom floor (these are not free, the dealer has to pay for them, and even if they can sell off the demo models for what they paid for then, the dealer still has to tie up 10s of thosands of dollars in demo equipment.) Add to this the fact that many of these shops were started in then late 70s and early eighties. This means that many of then original owners are rapidly approaching retirement age.  (A problem facing the entire industry I might add). It is no wonder that many of the dealers that these companies had depended on over the years are closing up shop, leaving them not much choice but to embrace on-line sales. Quite a paradigm shift from the original business model, but one that a fear they must make in order to survive.

[Deton Nation]

Why not buy a $4k amp and an $80 PC. I bet that would sound a lot better than a 2K amp and 2K PC.
Mike

[richidoo]

It might.... But Kaptovator is a transcendent wire if the 2k amp has something more to give when so enabled.   I would want to hear the difference myself before choosing. What do you use on the NuForces Mike?

[rollo]

  I don't get it. The owner Jay Victor holds over 40 patents in wire design. Is responsible for many of the high end cords out there. Their goal is to bring high quality at a reasonable price. Something we all can agree upon.
  They test as well as listen to their product compared to the big boys and have created a VG product. Maybe the company is new but Mr. Victor is not new to the party. He is a seasoned powercord designer. Read his Bio on the site.
  Now about giant killers. Far and few between but if you look hard enough they are out there. A few that come to mind are; Promitheus TVC & DAC,  Oritek DAC, Fi amps and preamps , Silverline speakers, Anti Cable Silver ICs, Nightshade Audio, Home Grown, Alan Maher, Vandersteen 2CE , Magnepan, NAD, Odyssey, Herbies.
  Now if one has to have the big names and high prices to get that warm and cozy feeling, GREAT. The entire business model was created when Gordon Holt and later by Harry Pearson created the " HIGH END". Then later on I forget who stated that cables should be about 10% of system cost. Brilliant. Remember when NBS got started selling expensive powercords. When a customer cut up one and found Romex inside and the cord cost $2000. That started the flooby dust theories to abound. and still prevalent today. Since many advancements in winding and geometry have taken the cords to a new level as well as the price the game is on. Why do you think there are so many cable manfs ? With a large profit margin its a natural.
  The model needs to be revised IMO. ZU is thinking out of the box with their house parties. Norvinz offers reps to come to your home to demo gear. I would pay $50 for a demo . If I purchase the $50 would be deducted from price. No brick and mortar required. The Rep could work on 10% plus expenses. Manf. could offer distributor cost to the rep. and the customer can save 30% or more. Works for me. Best part you are evaluating the piece IN YOUR SYSTEM. Sorry for therant just woke up.



charles
  

[rollo]

Why not buy a $4k amp and an $80 PC. I bet that would sound a lot better than a 2K amp and 2K PC.
Mike

  BRILLIANT!!!!!!! Until pressured by the dealers to sell more cords CJ and AR finally gave in. Van Alstine still will not add an IEC to his gear. Lou Johnson was one of the last to give in. He felt a direct connected cord was better. Especially since the cord was designed for the piece. Yes cords make a difference that is understood. Johnson believed that a well designed power supply with chokes and filtering was the answer NOT the cord.
 So I would rather own a CJ amp for $4000 with a Pangea cord than a Ming Da and a top tier cord. But that's me.



charles

[Deton Nation]

It might.... But Kaptovator is a transcendent wire if the 2k amp has something more to give when so enabled.   I would want to hear the difference myself before choosing. What do you use on the NuForces Mike?

I use the Magic Cables by SignalCable... Deinitely better than stock. But reasonably priced..
M

[Black Sand Cable]

 I don't get it. The owner Jay Victor holds over 40 patents in wire design.
  

I don't know Jay Victor (never heard of him until this thread) nor do I really care about Pangea but you do realize just how easy it is to get a patent right? If your making a buying decision based on the number of patents somebody holds, you are making a misinformed buying decision.

Last time I checked Bose and Monster (and others) had their fair share of patents and I think we all know what level of performance you can expect with those lines. I'm not saying this guy's cords aren't any good as like I said I don't know them (they look similar to PS Audio's) but the number of patents is meaningless.

[tmazz]

Rich,

I have no doubt that the Kaptovator will sound better on a @k amp than a cheaper cable would, my question is whether a Kaptovator on a 2K amp will sound better than spending the same amount of money on a 3.5K amp and a Signal cable or Pangea power cord. I just think that when you are pulling out that kind of money for a power cord it leads to other options that could be explored that wouldn't be there if you were spending a couple of hundred on the PC.

The big buck PC may end up being the best choice, but you never know.......

[Black Sand Cable]

I personally always tell people to upgrade the gear first and than accessorize. It hurts my sales from time to time but it is what it is.

Putting a $500.00 power cord or even using a set of $500.00 ic's on a $250.00 cd player has never made any sense to me as a $250.00 cd player is only capable of doing so much.......regardless of what you do to it.

But that is me. Others look at things differently and that is fine and dandy with me. 

[richidoo]

That's why I said "If the 2k amp has enough to keep up with the Kaptovator"   You can't believe what it does Tom, and there are some really great little amps out there that can fill the shoes. That's why I would want to hear the comparison of vinyl cheapo wire on a $4k amp against a totally unleashed well designed 2K amp. Last week I heard a very inexpensive amplifier with captive $6 mouser cord keep up with my $7k Manley tube amps on BSA Silver Ref 5 last weekend. A friend wondered what it could do with a great PC soldered in. But then it wouldn't be cheap anymore.

Temporary connections are an extreme hazard in our systems, especially on high power connections. EIC jack is just one more to increase impedance of the incoming power. Oyaide or Wattgate connectors really help, but they cost.  Ideally you could solder a well engineered high end PC to the transformer input leads and get the best of both. Or even better, solder the romex to the trafo. And a dab of silver contact paste on the breaker contacts.